Let us introduce you to Tina Loyola-Cabral! Tina is the dining-room manager for Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen in Antioch, Contra Costa County. She has been involved with the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano for the past three years after graduating from the 2018 Speaker Series. We sat down with Tina for a Q&A, so you could get better acquainted with a valuable member of our advocacy team.
HUNGER FIGHTING:
What inspired you to become a hunger-fighting advocate?
I work as the dining-room manager at Loaves and Fishes in Antioch and seeing hungry children really breaks my heart. Nobody should be hungry, especially children. We are a wealthy country; we may not be able to fix everything, but we CAN make sure everybody has something to eat…I really believe food is a human right.
Can you think of one hunger-related experience that sticks with you most?
It was probably being in the 8th grade at Christmas time and not having enough to eat. My boyfriend took hotdogs from his house so we would be able to have a Christmas dinner.
What is something you wish others understood about hunger?
It’s almost like people who are hungry are invisible in their community and often forgotten.
What’s the highlight of your time as an advocate so far?
It was going to advocate in Sacramento and meeting with Congressman McNerney. I also enjoyed mentoring the last Speaker Series.
Something about yourself others don’t know?
I was raised in Arizona, and I grew up wanting to be a nun until 9th grade, when my mother talked me out of it!
FREE-TIME:
Favorite movie?
A Knight’s Tale.
Best book you read in the past year?
Swan Song by Robert Mccammon.
Favorite TV show?
I don’t watch TV!
What do you like to do for fun?
Sewing and fishing.
Favorite vacation spot?
Yosemite.
Mountains or Beach
Beach, I’m a water girl.
